Face of the Day

Judith Collins was disgusted by the reaction to her infamous “talofa” comment, saying she thought it was “a lot of hysteria from a whole bunch of wet wipes”.

The longstanding National Party MP, who is leaving politics, said, “My husband is Samoan, so talofa” in response to a question during a leaders’ debate for the 2020 election.

The comment faced widespread backlash, with many claiming the former National leader “weaponised” the ethnicity of her husband, David Wong-Tung, for political gain.

Reflecting on the six-word sentence, which gained viral attention, on Ryan Bridge TODAY, Collins said she and her husband were “disgusted” by the response it received.

“Talofa is a term that I use all the time. I’m actually only regretting I didn’t use it in parliament in my valedictory [speech].

“For those people who got themselves all excited and stupid, frankly, my husband is Samoan. He was born in Samoa. He was brought up there as a child, came to New Zealand when he was eight. His first language is Samoan.”

NZ Herald